MEN’S SOCCER

The HU men’s soccer team suffered their first conference loss of the year, a 2-1 decision, Saturday afternoon at King Stadium against Grace College (5-8, 2-2_. The loss drops Lawson and crew to 7-5-1 overall, 2-1-1 in league play.

The matchup between these two squads as of late is well-documented. Since 2014, the series has not only included three ties, but has also seen each team win three times to make for a 3-3-3 record for both sides.

The Foresters struck first in today’s barn-burner. Jordan Morris and Zach Collins came off the bench to tag team HU’s only goal of the afternoon. With under five minutes left in the first half, and two minutes after Morris entered the contest, the 6-1 senior forward found Collins in stride. The rookie calmly slotted the keeper near post for a 1-0 lead.

Unfortunately, two minutes later, the Lancers’ equalizer came be way of Grace Ze Maria Goncalves’ header to deadlock things at 1-1 heading into intermission. The final 45 minutes was up for grabs with shots slightly favoring the guests 8-5. It was their sixth shot that found side netting in the 79th minute that proved the game-winner.

As a team, HU finished with nine shots for the match, five on frame, while Grace posted 16, 11 of which were on target.

“Grace is a dangerous team,” said Coach Russ Lawson. “I knew today was going to be a challenge to solve their weapons up top. I thought we were a deflection away from denying their first goal and then an errant pass out of the back led to their second goal.

“They were able to capitalize in both situations. Today was a typical Crossroads League battle – you don’t get too many chances and you can’t afford to make too many mistakes.”

HU heads to Indiana Wesleyan on Wednesday for a 7:00 p.m. matchup with the Wildcats.